CO-AX Tablet 500mg

Amoxicillin is a semisynthetic antibiotic with a broad-spectrum of bactericidal activity against many gram-positive and -negative microorganisms. Amoxicillin is, however, susceptible to degradation by β-lactamases and therefore, the spectrum of activity does not include organisms, which produce these enzymes. Clavulanic acid is a β-lactam, structurally related to the penicillins, which possesses the ability to inactivate a wide range of β-lactamase enzymes commonly found in microorganisms resistant to penicillins and cephalosporins. In particular, it has good activity against the clinically important plasmid mediated β-lactamases frequently responsible for transferred drug resistance. The formulation of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid protects amoxicillin from degradation by β-lactamase enzymes and effectively extends the antibiotic spectrum of amoxicillin to include many bacteria normally resistant to amoxicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics. Thus, amoxicillin/clavulanate potassium combination possesses the distinctive properties of a broad-spectrum antibiotic and a β-lactamase inhibitor.